Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Cost and Hours:
€3, includes video and guided walk, June-mid-Sept daily
10:00-18:00,lasttourat17:00;duringoff-seasonaccessisfreebutvisitorscenterisclosed;
tel. 046/902-5903.
Visiting the Site:
You'll see the Mound of Hostages (a Bronze Age passage grave, c.
2500
B.C.
), a couple of ancient sacred stones, a war memorial, and vast views over the
Emerald Isle. While ancient Ireland was a pig pile of minor chieftain-kings scrambling for
power, the high king of Tara was king of the mountain. It was at this ancient stockade that
St. Patrick directly challenged the king's authority. When confronted by the high king, Pat-
rick convincingly explained the Holy Trinity using a shamrock: three petals with one stem.
He won the right to preach Christianity throughout Ireland, and the country had a new na-
tional symbol.
This now-desolate hill was also the scene of great modern events. In 1798, passionate
young Irish rebels chose Tara for its defensible position, but were routed by better organ-
ized (and more sober) British troops. (The cunning British commander had sent three cart-
loads of whiskey along the nearby road earlier in the day, knowing the rebels would inter-
cept it.) In 1843, the great orator and champion of Irish liberty Daniel O'Connell gathered
500,000 Irish peasants on this hill for his greatest “monster meeting”—a peaceful show of
force demanding the repeal of the Act of Union with Britain (kind of the Woodstock of its
day). In a bizarre final twist, a small group of British Israelites—who believed they were
one of the lost tribes of Israel, who had ended up in Britain—spent 1899 to 1901 recklessly
digging up parts of the hill in a misguided search for the Ark of the Covenant.
Stand on the Hill of Tara. Think of the history it's seen, and survey Ireland. It's un-
derstandable why this “meeting place of heroes” continues to hold a powerful place in the
Irish psyche.
Old Mellifont Abbey
This Cistercian abbey (the first in Ireland) was established by French monks who came to
the country in 1142 to bring the Irish monks more in line with Rome. (Even the abbey's
architecture was unusual, marking the first time in Ireland that a formal, European-style
monastic layout was used.) Cistercians lived isolated rural lives; lay monks worked the
land, allowing the more educated monks to devote all their energy to prayer. After Henry
VIII dissolved the abbey in 1539, centuries of locals used it as a handy quarry. Conse-
quently, little survives beyond the octagonal lavabo, where the monks would ceremonially
wash their hands before entering the refectory to eat. The lavabo gives a sense of the ab-
bey's former grandeur.
The excellent 45-minute tours, available upon request and included in your admission,
give meaning to what you're seeing. To get a better idea of the extent of the site, be sure
